Wanna arm wrestle an actual DC roller derby girl?

The Pink Line Project and Scion bring you Barrelhouse Magazine's Roller Derby issue launch this coming Friday, July 25, 6 - 10 pm at the District's Hillyer Art Space (behind the Phillips Collection on 21st Street, NW, between Q and R Street).

Check it out; there will be:
- a night of amazing roller derby themed stories and poems
- one gigantic roller derby mural (by Cory Oberndorfer)
- food eating
- beer (provided by Flying Dog Brewery) and wine drinking
- DJ dancing (music by DJ Adrian)
- video watching (Kyle Brannon!)
- Barrelhouse magazine buying.

All for a mere $10.

And of course, a rare opportunity to arm wrestle an actual DC roller derby girl!

Wanna go to a DC opening tomorrow?

Zenith's Alternative Gallery Space at 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in the nation's capital has an interesting show opening tomorrow curated by the ubercollector couple of Steve and Linda Krensky.

The show is titled "Reincarnations" as it features artworks created from found objects and recycled materials.

Meet the artists tomorrow, Wednesday, July 23, 5:30-8:30pm - the exhibition goes through September 28, 2008.

Work by Grif Bates, Chuck Baxter, Chris Bransome, Melissa Burley, Carolyn Cates, Scott Cawood, Randall Cleaver, Lee Connah, Rosetta DeBerardinis, Laura Dixon, Roger Doyle, Kristin Eager, Ed Gross, Jason Higgins, Andrew Krieger, SuAnne Lasher, Ara Laughlin, Susan Makara, Forrest McCluer, Bodil Meleney, Bogdan Miscevic, Elizabeth Morisette, John Pack, Jane Petit, Caitlin Phillips, George Sakkal, Rima Schulkind, Irma Spencer, Brad Taylor, Erwin Timmers, Mariano Perez Vivanco, Jodi Walsh, and Will Winton.

Commenting on the exhibit, Linda Krensky said, “For the most part, we chose the pieces based on the artists’ unusual interpretations and ability to create art from rather ordinary materials. Some of the pieces are beautiful, some amuse and others amaze.”

Mayor Nutter does good

Exciting news from Philly's City Hall Friday, as Mayor Michael Nutter announced the opening of the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy (Henceforth, OACCE), a Frankenversion of the old Office of Arts and Culture (OAC).

Read the post from Drama Queen here.

Names needed!

A while back I had this call for artists to donate to an auction for a great cause.

The AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts has a major arts fundraising event coming up called ARTcetera 2008.

So many of you donated artwork that they will be arranging a DC area pick-up and need to know the names of the DC area artists who will be interested in having their work picked up at a central location. If you donated a piece to ARTcetera, please drop me an email at lenny at lennycampello.com soonest!

ARTcetera is a biennial creative black-tie contemporary art auction created and supported by a unique partnership between the visual arts community and the AIDS Action Committee. Guests enjoy fine food and beverages and bid on more than three hundred fresh works by acclaimed local, national and international artists. An exciting live auction and two silent auctions present works in a variety of media, sizes, and styles.

To donate work you had to fill out this form by July 3rd, 2008.

Let me know if you donated work.

Save the date

If you click on the image below, you'll get all the details on the coming production, "Hijos del Limbo" at Gala in DC.

Why am I promoting a theatre production in a visual arts blog? Because it involves the work of artist Alessandra Torres, who moved back to D.C. several weeks ago to work on this play, and has done all of the set designs, promotional photos, and designed the limited edition print below for the play. One of her photos appeared in the July 4th Weekend Section of the Washington Post, for upcoming entertainment events in the D.C. area.


It’s interesting to note that Alessandra, and the star of the show, Gabriela Fernandez, were good friends in Puerto Rico when they were children, and are now collaborating on this theater production in Washington, D.C., as adults! Needless to say, they are very excited about their work together, and I thought that you might like to come to one of the performances if you happen to be in D.C. from July 23-26. I think you would find the improvisational nature of the play interesting, and the theme intriguing!

This Week: Easton, MD

As I've discussed before, just four years ago Plein Air Easton got started as artists worldwide have begun to return to painting in the Plein Air style, and once again, as they did in 19th century Europe, are leaving their studios to paint and draw outside... on roadsides, on the beach, on top of mountains, in their gardens and yards, and even in city streets to capture landscapes, still lifes, figures and architecture in their natural elements.



I've said that I thought that the resurgence of this movement, much like it happened in Europe in the 19th century, may be a reaction to the overwhelming presence of technology in our daily lives. And that's OK; there's room for plein air painter and digital photographers and technogeeks artists in the art world.

The festival goes from Monday, July 21 - Sunday, July 27, 7:00am-5pm... but there are tons of associated events in the gorgeous and tiny Maryland village. All the details are here.

I will be speaking at 7PM at the Academy Art Museum on the subject of contemporary art, collecting, artists and art in general. I promise to make you laugh if you come by and you may just also learn a few things about art.

So, come on Saturday, July 26, 7:00pm - details here (scroll down).

See ya there!

Mattera on Kapoor

Joanne Mattera on Anish Kapoor: Read it here.

Goss on Figurative/Narrative

Sizzling Heather Goss reviews Figurative/Narrative at DC's Healing Arts Gallery. Read it here.

Inactive Art Career Syndrome

The WPA in DC is hosting some workshops for a new program called No Artist Left Behind, which will help artists to learn all the basics of documenting their work, including some tip and tricks to photographing their work, saving in correct file formats, and helping WPA members set up their ArtFile Online portfolios. The workshops are coming up soon, July 28 and 29.

Contact them here.

Australian John: Art Scammer

Remember this art scam?

Now a "John" from Australia is doing the same scam... be careful if you get an email trying to buy artwork.

The address in the scam email is:

128 Salmon Street
Port Melbourne, Melbourne 3207
Australia
Phone: 61 2 9498 6830

Frida Kahlo Talk and Lecture

Come by tomorrow to the Smith Farm's Healing Arts Gallery, where you can not only check out "Figurative/Narrative: Memories of a Presence," featuring work by Billy Colbert, Michael Janis and Paul Andrew Wandless, but also starting at 5:30PM I will be giving a talk and presentation on Frida Kahlo, focusing on her pain and how it affected her artwork and life.

I will discuss Kahlo in terms of an artist defined and iconized by her artwork, in spite of tremendous hurdles and problems.

Free and open to the public.

See ya there!

Wanna go to a DC opening tonight?

The head out to Katzen Museum, where from 6-8PM there will be an opening at the Rotunda for the the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities FY2009 Visual Arts Applicants' Showcase.

Opening Reception: July 16, 2008, 6:30 PM
Exhibition Hours: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Monday - Saturday July 17 - August 1, 2008

Katzen Arts Center
American University
4400 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20016

See ya there!

My quote... mea culpa

It has been brought to my attention that a paraphrased quote that compares Tim Tate's groundbreaking advancement of fine arts glass to the groundbreaking work of Stieglitz in bringing photography to the fine arts arena, and which I have been generously attributing to a Washington and/or Washington Post art critic was actually initally coined by me several years ago for an essay on the exhibition "Compelled by Content."

After talking or emailing today to several of the folks who I thought had first coined the comparison, it's my memory who appears to be flawed and the comparison was initiated by me.

My fault and my apologies! An overzealous dealer with an overzelous mind. I enthusiastically believe that what Tim Tate is doing to glass is exactly what Stieglitz did to photography, but it is all my own biased opinion.

I will try to correct the source wherever it has appeared.

Gallery Closes: Gallerist Tells All

(Via J.T.) Chicago gallerist Lisa Boyle closes her gallery after four years and in frustration writes about the causes for her failure... here are some tidbits from her words:

Why is it so GOD DAMNED hard to sell a piece of art around here?...

...Oh now. To consider Chicago alone, it would be very easy to slide into that familiar unison of voices about how collectors here don’t collect, museums here don’t connect with the galleries and local artists, there’s not enough critical attention, Chicago can’t compete with LA and NY, etc. Actually, it come out as easily as my breath to shout out a mental “Here, here!” to accompany these tired voices of disappointment. And I could maybe also choose to take a trip down the path of righteousness and talk about people who’ve started galleries with seemingly limitless free financial support and how all the successful galleries are connected in an incestuous web of nepotism and homosexual ego stroking. After all, these are the things I gossip about in my spare time (to people who can’t get back at me, of course)....

...There is also this sea change regarding art fairs’ role in the life of a gallery. While a great load of fun for some people, they have grown over everything like a suffocating mold and swallowed up a whole heap of what an art dealer has to do on any given day. All for the honor of showing work in ramshackle booths along with a fuckthousand other artists. It’s a different job, being a gallery owner, than it was even five years ago...

Read the entire piece here.

Jennie Rose on Southern Exposure at SF

As we continue to expand our coverage, we'd like to introduce Jennie Rose, who will be reporting regularly from California. And if her first piece is an example of the shape of things to come, we've lucked out onto a terrific new voice in the visual arts!

Southern Exposure

By Jennie Rose

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, San Francisco galleries and non profit arts support centers like Southern Exposure (SOEX) were filled with work by “state of the art bohemian poets, underground music heroes, revolutionary skaters, and graffiti kings and queens,” wrote Aaron Rose co-curator of Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art and Street Culture.

Beautiful Losers, an exhibit first shown in San Francisco 2004, encapsulates that period twenty years ago when those at the edges of society were thought to be key to the forward movement of the culture in general.

Jo Jackson, Margaret Kilgallen and Barry McGee, Josh Lazcano, Alicia McCarthy, Clare Rojas, Thomas Campbell, Dan Flanagan, Symantha Gates, Nell Gould and Chris Johanson; These artists’ work showed that they shook off the parsing and packaging of the traditional art world.

The work attracted skaters, freaks and geeks, youth who made no distinction between a performance art piece by an industrial noise band and any other creative endeavors.

Though a few came to this through MFA prestige, Chris Johanson, a skateboarder with no formal art training, began by hanging up some drawings at Adobe Books, a bookshop in San Francisco’s Mission district.

Acting as a kind of ballast for the seismic seizures of the California arts scene, Southern Exposure stays true to its founding principles of the last 35 years: To provide artists--whether they are exhibiting, curating, teaching, or learning—an opportunity to realize ideas for projects that may not otherwise find support.

The organization, which started out like a coop and is now “a pillar in the arts community,” as described by the SOEX Associate Director Aimee Le Duc, is known for nurturing talent, which later becomes celebrated.

True enough, Johanson who has said that his work depicts “a world where nudist dancers, good vibes, emotionally centered people, forest energy and rainbows abut a sinister comic edge,” has a well- established career. In 2003 SF MOMA awarded him a SECA award, and his work was included in both the 2002 Whitney Biennial and the 2003 SITE Santa Fe biennial.


As one nurtured by the support for his ideas, Johanson is invested in the continued success of Southern Exposure. For its 15th annual fundraising auction this year, Johanson donated two pieces, one called “Perception #4,” a color sugarlift aquatint etching.

Other established artists, many who have affinity for or loyalty to SOEX, donated pieces including Catherine Wagner, Andrew Shcoultz, David Ireland and Ajit Chauhan. Chauhan donated “Safe Travels to the Now/Ass You Like It,” a piece in ink and graphite on paper.

The swath of work chosen for the auction always includes artists who participated in any SOEX exhibition of the last three years. Some are invited, such as Vanessa Marsh, a photographer and recent grad from California College of the Arts (CCA), who was invited to participate and is likely to have an exhibition in the future.


One of the most recent to come up through this tradition is Tara Foley who donated “Landscape number 12” a gouache, tape, pencil piece. A week ago Foley just wrapped up Say Hello to Neverending, a solo show at Fecal Face Gallery in downtown San Francisco. Say Hello… charts the symbiotic relationship between destruction and creation by mapping a world ruled by juxtapositions.

“Sometimes we do have work that is purely aesthetic, but then again, when it comes to the artist, it’s really about the work going on the community right now,” says Le Duc.

“Right now it is work which is socially aware, and politically active, such as the work by Hank Willis Thomas.” Thomas donated a digital print called “Black Power,” a close up of a mouth with a gold grill.

“Hank has an uncanny ability to unpack what it is about pop culture that institutionalizes racism,” says Le Duc. “He confronts the co-opting of the black male body. The words ‘black power’ in the grill, this hyper-hyper reality of seeing every pore and hair on this guy’s face takes it to ‘where is the power coming from?’”

Southern Exposure never worries about what sells or looks good, nor does it invoke ideas of a historic or aesthetic canon. “That’s more the business of a museum.”

As Le Duc simply puts it, “We’re in the business of supporting emerging artists and artists and as they create new work. There’s no sense of hierarchy. We stay focused on the overall goal.”

Beginning the move to a new space, Southern Exposure plans to open the doors to spacious Mission district digs in spring of 2009, where it will continue its self-described work as a “daring, nimble, and accessible arts organization.”

The best laid plans of mice and art dealers...

While I had intended to report everyday from Art Santa Fe, working these art fairs is such a constant hands on act, coupled with the fact that I'm always on my feet at these affairs, and a few other things all added up to a report-less experience on a daily basis from the fair.

Overall, this year's Art Santa Fe was not the commercial success that many of the art galleries and dealers who participated had hoped that it would be. It was not all the fault of the organizers, who I think did the best job that anyone taking the complex challenge of organizing such an event -- with its army of people in a chess game of movement and issues -- has to do.

But the talk in the dealers' break room and along the aisles was not good.

Like any art fair, I am sure that there were some galleries who did well, but I suspect that the vast majority did poorly as far as sales were concerned.

AN art fair is not all about sales, although when one puts out several thousand dollars in fees, travel, staff, etc., sales is damned well ahead of whatever is in second place.

Connections and networking is another good element of art fairs. In our case we made the direct connection with two of the top art collectors in the US.

Collectors with connections are even more important... in one case, he is not only a major photography collector about to become a collector of contemporary Cuban art (on the advise of his art advisers), but also on the board of a major museum. His wife is a major collector of glass, and also on the board of a major school.

All these bits and pieces help to cement a gallery's future; even as sales do not materialize at the frequency that one wishes for.

One negative thing about the fair that I did hear from the locals was the fact that according to them the organizers were "crazy to set the fair on the same weekend as the Fifth Annual International Folk Art Market," the largest international folk art market in the world, which was taking place at exactly the same time as Art Santa Fe. I'm not sure what, if any effect this had on the low sales experienced by most of the gallerists and dealers who confided in me.

Another good aspect for reputable dealers in fairs like this, is the ability, provided that the dealer is one who works for his/her artists, to find other dealers and galleries for our artists.

We managed to find and begin to cement a relationship with two new dealers, one in Britain, one in Santa Fe, for one of our artists -- as well as for an artist whose work I know. She will be happy once she calls me and finds out that she has a very good Santa Fe gallery very interested in her work.

Another thing that I kept hearing about was how poorly American fairs were doing in general, although it seems that some European fairs were doing better. We also heard some horror stories about some "hotel fairs."

Several hotel fairs will not be returning to Miami this December, although someone from Art Basel who was around the fair checking out the art and the fair itself, told me that Miami expects about 25 art fairs this December - that's a spectacular fair overload, and it also means that even though some of last year's fairs will not return, some new ones will pop up!

We had dinner one night with some gallerists from Europe and the US, as well as a few other artsy folks - a fair organizer, an art magazine editor, a curator or two, and someone who has a business of doing the booths at the fairs.

It was lively conversation, and I dropped a bomb of a rumor that I have been hearing about from people who do not want to be quoted.

"I've been hearing a rumor that Art Basel Miami Beach may be pulling out of Miami Beach and relocating to Los Angeles," I said.

"Nonsense!" said a very, very connected curator from Miami. "ABMB and the city have a six year contract - ABMB is not going anywhere!"

"I've heard the same thing," said a magazine publisher from Los Angeles.

"And," added the art magazine publisher, "there's only two years left on that contract." That info was backed by another person in the group, who also added that he thought that it was pretty much set that ABMB would be moving to LA after its contract with Miami Beach expires.

"It will never happen," said the vigorous defender of Miami. "Miami is a magnet for Europeans in the winter, and the crossroads for Latin America, Europe and North America... people and collectors, want to go to Miami in December."

"That's true," replied her tormentors, "but LA is the center point of the Latin American Pacific rim as well as Asia... and we have beaches as well."

And thus several plugged-in insiders seem to verify what I've been hearing about for months: that the heart of the Miami art fairs phenomenon - Art Basel Miami Beach - may be, and I repeat, may be, pulling out of Miami Beach once its six year contract ends and ABMB may thus be moving the American version of the European fair to Los Angeles.

Basel's Vernissage TV

Yours truly in Basel's Vernissage TV, which was covering Art Santa Fe this last weekend.

Maloney on Art Santa Fe

Santa Fe blogger Jessica Maloney on Art Santa Fe.

Art Santa Fe Day One

Arrived a couple of days ago in New Mexico for Art Santa Fe art fair, where we'll be peddling artwork at the fair, being held this year from July 10-13, 2008 at El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe and right across the street from Site Santa Fe.

When we arrived at Albuquerque on Tuesday afternoon, we spent most of the day exploring the old city.

On Wednesday we checked into the fair spaces. The whole area around it is a whirlwind of construction as new art sites, art buildings, etc. continue to populate this area of the city.

All the crates were waiting for us at booth 52, and right away I realized that (as usual) I had shipped way too much work. Everything was unpacked and then we had the crates removed.

Because the storage area at the fair didn't open till much later, it was an interesting chess game moving around all the extra work while isolating what work to hang for the opening tonight.

The press preview is at 3:30PM, and then the opening an hour later.

If you're in that amazing little city full of art galleries (nearly 300 of them) during this time, come by booth 52 and say hola!

Lots more later as I tell you how the opening gala went!

Murals DC

Wanna go to a Silver Spring, MD opening?

Gateway's Heliport Gallery has an upcoming exhibit based on the surrealist game, Exquisite Corpse. Opening July 12 from 5 - 8 pm

Work by Karren Alenier, Mark Behme, Bobbi Clay, Christopher Conlon, Warren Craghead III, Patrick Finley, Fred Folsom, Gail Gorlitzz, JoAnne Growney, Stephen Hanks , Elyse Harrison, Neil Joffe, John Landis, Emery Lewis, Donna M. McCullough, Emily Piccirillo, Shelley Sarrin, Rima Schulkind, Ed Thomas, Joyce Zipperer, and Birdie Zoltan.

Gallery located at 8001 Kennett Street, Suite 3, Silver Spring, MD 20910. 301.562.1400. Close to Red Line Silver Spring Station.

Art Santa Fe

Wanna go to a DC opening?


Figurative/Narrative: Memories of a Presence opens Friday, July 11 with a reception from 5:30-8PM at DC's Smith Farm Center for Healing and the Arts' Healing Arts Gallery. Work by Billy Colbert, Paul Andrew Wandless, and Michael Janis.


The show runs through August 28.

John Collier at Art Whino

National Harbor's ArtWhino has a solo show by John Collier coming up that looks really interesting to figure aficionados.


The opening is July 12th, 2008 from 6pm-Midnight.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: October 1, 2008.

Carroll Community College and the Innovators Combating Substance Abuse Program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine are pleased to issue a Call to Artists whose work will be selected to appear in the nation’s first regional Art and Addiction exhibition (November 2 – December 12, 2008).

The purpose of this exhibition is to provide a stimulus to change the way America views addiction by using the visual arts to put a human face on addiction and recovery. Creativity and artistic expression play a significant role both in recovery and in raising awareness of the personal toll caused by substance abuse and addiction. Organizers of this event believe that art can help bridge the gap between addiction science and the human experience of addiction; providing insights that will complement the science of understanding and treating addiction.

Artists are invited to submit original artwork on the theme of drug addiction and recovery (drugs include alcohol, tobacco, illegal or prescription drugs). Please note that eligible artists (within 75 miles of Carroll) who entered the Innovators’ National Art and Addiction Book and Exhibition Call in March of 2008 will automatically have their art considered for this show. Deadline for submission is October 1, 2008.

Show information and submission forms may be downloaded from the Carroll Community College website: www.carrollcc.edu or by mailing a self addressed, stamped envelope to:

Maggie Ball
Visual Art Department Chairperson
(Attention: Art and Addiction Exhibition)
Carroll Community College
1601 Washington Road
Westminster, MD 21157

For more information contact Maggie Ball at mball@carrollcc.edu.

Art Santa Fe


On Tuesday I am flying West for the Art Santa Fe art fair, where we'll be peddling artwork at the coming Art Santa Fe, being held this year from July 10-13, 2008 at El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe.

The fair's 2008 Keynote Speaker will be Dean Sobel, the Director of the new Clyfford Still Museum in Denver.

If you're in that amazing little city full of art galleries (nearly 300 of them) known as Santa Fe during this time, come by booth 52 and say hola!

The Art of Failure

"...is a feature documentary about the life of Chuck Connelly, a brilliant yet enigmatic painter who had great success as a young artist in the art boom of the 1980’s but who has perpetuated a long downward spiral in his career due to ego, drugs, women, and alcohol. He now is increasingly fearful of his fate. Driven by desperation, Connelly comes up with several crazy schemes to sell his work to galleries and stage a comeback in the art world."

The film will air on HBO this Monday July 7th at 9pm EST. More broadcast dates here and the film's website is here and Connelly's website is here.

Connelly is represented in the Philadelphia area by The Knapp Gallery which currently has "The New Philadelphia School" exhibition (through August 24). It includes work by Tom Brady, Chuck Connelly, Giappo DiFederico, Jon Eckel, Adam Lee Farrell, and R. Michael Walsh.

Another Campello gets reviewed

My daughter Elise gets reviewed - read it here.

Happy 4th!

Super proud to be an American!

Campello in 08?

See it and don't believe it. It's actually a new form of art: "Viral Videos."

Go here.

Latin American Wealth

Latin America's wealthy also are among the most avid buyers of fine art. While only 11 percent of North America's wealthy spend their money on fine art, 21 percent of Latin America's wealthy do so. That is also more than what their counterparts in Asia and the Middle East spend and only lags slightly behind Europe.

Read the article here and let's all wonder what the other 89% of North America's wealthy spend their dollars on?

Voter Apathy

If the spectacular turnout for my poll is a prognosticator of the shape of things to come in November, then we're in trouble. As of this morning only two votes had been registered - and one of them was mine!

To recap: on the issue of the National Latino Museum, I've set up a poll here to see what people think. It takes 30 seconds to take this poll... just pick one of the two choices.

FotoWeek

I know nothing!

I haven't received a single bit of news or anything even remotely reading like a press release about FotoWeek DC; in fact I'm only hearing about FotoWeek from photographers asking me about it.

DCist has all the details here - I know nothing about it other than it has a really good website and it is a splendid idea!

El Poll

On the issue of the National Latino Museum, how about a little poll to see what the numbers show? Go here and take this poll... just pick one of the two choices.

Trawick Prize Finalists

Fifteen artists have been selected as finalists for the The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards, by far the Greater DC region's most prestigious art prize and open to DC, MD and VA artists. The work of the 15 finalists will be on display from September 3 – September 27, 2008 in downtown Bethesda at Heineman Myers Contemporary Art, located at 4728 Hampden Lane.

The prize winners will be announced and honored on Wednesday, September 3rd at a
special press event held at Heineman Myers Contemporary Art. The Best in Show winner will be awarded $10,000; second place will be honored with $2,000 and third place will be awarded $1,000. A “Young Artist” whose birth date is after April 11, 1978 will also be awarded $1,000.

The artists selected as finalists are:

Joseph Barbaccia, Potomac Falls, VA
Ryan Browning, Mount Airy, MD
Lynn Cazabon, Baltimore, MD
Warren Craghead III, Charlottesville, VA
Dawn Gavin, Baltimore, MD
Bernhard Hildebrandt, Baltimore, MD
Kristin Holder, Washington, D.C.
Kay Hwang, Baltimore, MD
Baby Martinez, Washington, D.C.
Maggie Michael, Washington, D.C.
Youngmi S. Organ, Nokesville, VA
Tony Shore, Baltimore, MD
Molly Springfield, Washington. D.C.
Dan Steinhilber, Washington, D.C.
Heide Trepanier, Richmond, VA

Several names return to the list, and for the first time we'll see a husband and wife on the list! Several names from the Bethesda Painting Awards list also make an appearance on this list.

The entries were juried by Molly Donovan, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Gallery of Art; Irene Hofmann, Executive Director of the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore, MD and Leah Stoddard, former Director of Second Street Gallery in Charlottesville, VA.

A public reception will be held on Friday, September 12, 2008 from 6-9pm in conjunction with the Bethesda Art Walk.

Por Favor... No National Latino Museum

Back in 2003 I didn't like this idea.

I still don't like it. Read about it here.

And stop trying to segregate my culture and then aggregate it under one convenient label.

Sculptors Happy Hour

Wanna meet and chat about sculpture with fellow DC area sculptors and sculpture lovers on the last Monday of every month at 6:00 PM? (next one is July 28th, etc...).

Then go to Gordon Biersch
900 F Street NW
Washington, DC 20004

Ask the Hostess where the Washington Sculptors Group is sitting. You don’t need to be a member to join them and everyone is invited.

Check out their new website here.

New at Art-Tistics

Welcoming uberblogger Joanne Mattera, who will be joining us at Art-Tistics soon as the site grows.

Note the new widget to the right - it will keep you updated on the new art posts on that blog - just click on the post of interest and it takes you there.

Congrats!

I still don't know who all the 2008 Trawick Prize finalists are, but I know that both Joe Barbaccia and Warren Craghead are on that list!

As soon as it is made public I will have it here; meanwhile, congrats to Joe and Warren!

Seeking the "Collector"

Today's Washington Post has a list of suspects for DC's almost/quasi famous "Collector" - It also has a quote from me as to why Michael Janis is not a suspect in my opinion.

Read the piece here (scroll down).

PS - Where did they get that pic of Kirk Waldroff? from his High School yearbook?

Podcasting

Just a teaser for now... we will soon be adding regular podcasts to the blog!

More later.

The Artists "Review" Artists Project

J.T. Kirkland over at Thinking About Art has just launched an interesting new project where artists' work is reviewed by other artists.

I'm always talking about important the digital footprint is for artists and this idea seems like an excellent one for that! Now I wish I had thought about it!

Check it out here.

GOGs on Derivative Composition

Stephanie Merry from the WaPo's Going Out Gurus pops in with a good quick look at the "Derivative Composition" opening at the Kennedy Center last week.

Read it here.

Art Santa Fe

Just got through driving a van full of artwork to Brooklyn to be shipped from New York to Art Santa Fe, where we'll be trying really hard to sell some artwork at the coming Art Santa Fe, being held this year from July 10-13, 2008 at El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe.

The fair's 2008 Keynote Speaker will be Dean Sobel, the Director of the new Clyfford Still Museum in Denver.

If you're in beautiful Santa Fe during this time, come by booth 52 and say hola!

Reincarnations

"Reincarnations" is an exhibition of art created from found objects and recycled materials. It was curated by art collectors Linda and Steve Krensky. It opens with a reception to meet the artists on Wednesday, July 23, 5:30-8:30pm at Zenith Gallery's Alternative Space (located at 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in DC); it runs through Sept. 28, 2008.

The artists chosen by the Krenkys are:

Grif Bates, Chuck Baxter, Adam Bradley, Chris Bransome, Melissa Burley, Carolyn Cates, Scott Cawood, Randall Cleaver, Lee Connah, our own Rosetta DeBerardinis, Laura Dixon, Roger Doyle, Kristin Eager, Ed Gross, Jason Higgins, Andrew Krieger, SuAnne Lasher, Ara Laughlin, Susan Makara, Forrest McCluer, Bodil Meleney, Bogdan Miscevic, Elizabeth Morisette, John Pack, Jane Petit, Caitlin Phillips, George Sakkal, Rima Schulkind, Irma Spencer, Brad Taylor, Erwin Timmers, Mariano Perez Vivanco, Jodi Walsh, and Will Winton.

Commenting on the exhibit, the Krenskys said, “For the most part, we chose the pieces based on the artists’ unusual interpretations and ability to create art from rather ordinary materials. Some of the pieces are beautiful, some amuse and others amaze.”

Mysteries in Richmond

Mysteries: New Work by Sheila Giolitti at Red Door Gallery in Richmond, VA opened this last Friday and if you are in the area you should check out Sheila's work.

In the last fair that we did in NYC earlier month, we sold about a dozen of her paintings.

Go see this show.

Artists' Websites: Emily Piccirillo

"Present Perfect" (detail) by Emily Piccirillo
Emily Piccirillo is stretching the definitions of painting, installations and sculpture. Her work is not only superbly attractive, but also presented in such a way to make it creative and new in its format alone. All about her work here.

Glass prices

"Glass art is attracting more admirers and collectors today and gaining more attention as a fine art, as artists explore more with the medium. Meanwhile, prices for pieces are on the rise."

Read this interesting article The Canadian Press.

Patsy Fleming at Foundry

I'm hearing that the Patsy Fleming show at Foundry Gallery in DC is doing something rare for a DC art show: selling like hot cakes... gangbusters... ah... selling really well with 18 paintings having found a new home on the walls of a collector.

The show closes Sunday, so if you can swing by, check out her work, and maybe buy one.

Listen

If you missed Heather and I yesterday at WAMU's Kojo Nnamdi show, you can hear it online here.

New York Comments

After you read this article by Sewell Chan in the NYT -- about the debut of “New York City Waterfalls,” Olafur Eliasson’s $15.5 million of temporary cascades around New York Harbor -- continue reading the few hundred comments about the work and price tag.

Opportunities for Photographers

Deadline: Friday, August 15, at 5:00pm.

The 2nd Annual Plein Air–Easton! Photography Contest is open to professional, amateur, and student photographers. All images must depict aspects of the 2008 Plein Air-Easton! Festival. Cash prizes will be awarded and selections will be displayed in a touring exhibit which will continue through the Plein Air–Easton! Competition and Arts Festival 2009.
Deadline for submissions is Friday, August 15, at 5:00pm.

Winners will be announced September 5, 2008, during First Friday Gallery Walk. For more information and contest guidelines click here or email dorbin@paragonlight.com or
call 410-820-7738.

2008 Talbot County Abstract Photography Contest and Exhibition

The 2008 Talbot County Abstract Photography Contest, held by Traces of Us Gallery – Fotografia de Arte and Hobby Horse Photography, is open to all photographers interested in capturing the beauty of Talbot County and downtown Easton from an abstract and contemporary viewpoint. Registration will be held on Sunday, July 20 at Traces of Us Gallery – Fotografia de Arte from 10:00am – 4:00pm and is free with a donation of nonperishable food item(s).

Participating photographers will be required to take their pictures in Talbot County on July 21 and July 22 and in downtown Easton on July 23 and July 24. Each artist must submit one image taken in each location.

An exhibition and sale of all competition photographs will run at the Traces of Us Gallery – Fotografia de Arte from July 26 through August 8. Hobby Horse Photography will exhibit and sell the 1st, 2nd, 3rd place and honorable mentions from August 9 through September 1. For details click here.

On the air tonight at WRNR

I will be on the air around 6:30PM tonight on Annapolis' WRNR 103 FM in Michael Buckley's "Voices of the Chesapeake" show where I will be discussing the coming Plein AirEaston! event in beautiful Easton, Maryland.

If you've never been to Easton, you should seriously consider planning a trip anywhere from July 21-27, and witness as this beautiful seashore town becomes a magnet for thousands of art lovers and collectors as well as the nation's top plein air painters. Check it out here.

On the air today

Together with the fair Heather Goss from DCist, later on today I'll be on the Kojo Nnamdi Show discussing the Greater Washington area visual arts and artists and art stories as I usually do several times a year.

Tune in to WAMU 88.5 FM around noon - we're supposed to be on air around 1PM.

If you have any questions or art issues, you can call Kojo during the show at (800) 433-8850 or you can email him questions to kojo@wamu.org.

We hope to be able to discuss issues such as the search for a new Executive Director for the DC Arts Commission, also talk a little about that new effort to launch a new DC Art Fair Expo at the Convention Center, talk up some interesting shows and take as many questions and calls as possible.

Brooklyn!

One of mine is in this open show at the Brooklyn Museum.

On the air tomorrow

Tomorrow once again I'll be on the Kojo Nnamdi Show discussing the Greater Washington area visual arts and artists and art stories as I usually do several times a year.

Tune in to WAMU 88.5 FM around noon - I'm supposed to be on air around 1PM.

If you have any questions or art issues, you can call Kojo during the show at (800) 433-8850 or you can email him questions to kojo@wamu.org.

Also tomorrow I will be on the air around 6:30PM on Annapolis' WRNR in Michael Buckley's "Voices of the Chesapeake" show where I will be discussing the coming Plein AirEaston! event in beautiful Easton, Maryland.

From July 21-27, this beautiful seashore town becomes a magnet for thousands of art lovers and collectors as well as the nation's top plein air painters. Check it out here.

On the DC Arts Commission Director

Ethelbert Miller, one of the District's key arts personalities and a current DC Arts Commission commissioner pipes in with some good reflections on getting a new Executive Director. Read it here.

Grants for Artists

Deadline: July 31, 2008.

Awards up to $1,500 to visual and craft artists living and working in the U.S. Funds are to be used in the planning or a craft or visual arts project. Film projects are ineligible. For more information, send a SASE to:

The Ruth Chenven Foundation
7505 Jackson Avenue
Tacoma Park, MD 20912

Donate to this

The AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts has a major arts fundraising event coming up called ARTcetera 2008.

ARTcetera is a biennial creative black-tie contemporary art auction created and supported by a unique partnership between the visual arts community and the AIDS Action Committee. Guests enjoy fine food and beverages and bid on more than three hundred fresh works by acclaimed local, national and international artists. An exciting live auction and two silent auctions present works in a variety of media, sizes, and styles.

To donate work you have to fill out this form by July 3rd, 2008. As far as shipping work to them, I am working a deal with them where they will take care of shipping of any artwork donated by artists through this blog; work must be shipped by the end of July. You can also choose to receive 25% of the auction price. They will also need an image of the work for the auction catalog. When you fill out the form, make sure to skip data items 13-16 and put "Courtesy of the Artist" in Question 12 unless your gallery or a collector is donating it.

So if you donate a piece, then drop me an email and also put the following in the donation form's box 18:

This work is being donated through a call to artists in Lenny Campello's "Daily Campello Art News" blog and will be shipped to ARTcetera after shipping arrangements have been finalized with Kevin Hudson.

I plan to donate, and since donating artists get a ticket to the black tie gala, I may even swing by Boston to see how the auction goes. There is also a preview party for artists, donors and acquisition committee members happening on October 30 that artists will be invited to attend.

Be generous!

Resignations and Stepping Downs

Betsy Baker, editor of Art in America magazine since 1974, has resigned. Marcia Vetrocq, one of five senior editors, has become the new editor. Read the Lee Rosenbaum scoop here.

Also, Leonard Downie Jr., the longtime executive editor of The Washington Post, is stepping down in September. Read that bit of news here.

Living Without Them

Read the discussion on this Katzen Museum installation here. Comments welcomed!

The Washington Post's Critics Shame

Artomatic 2008 attracted a record-breaking 52,500 visitors as the Washington, D.C. area's homegrown arts extravaganza came to a triumphant close this month, setting new records and breaking new ground for artists in the region.

"Artomatic 2008 was a phenomenal event and it exceeded even our expectations," said Veronica Szalus, Artomatic president. "We are glad to be able to provide this opportunity for artists and to enrich the D.C. creative community."

In all, about 1,540 individual artists took part in Artomatic — also a new high. The total included 740 visual artists — such as painters, sculptors and photographers — who showed thousands of artworks. The event also included individual 800 performing artists, such as dancers, poets, theatre groups, drummers, comedians, fire troupes and musicians. Highlights of Artomatic 2008 included an art-themed fashion show, blood drive, art car foot race, marketplace, book signings and on-site tattoo parlor.

For the first time, Artomatic had a full schedule of free children's events every weekend, including popular workshops on mobile-making, Peeps dioramas, drawing and sculpting. More than 20 children's events were held, attracting hundreds of participants and budding artists.

Adult educational workshops and lectures were also held, focusing on topics such as art collecting and photography techniques. I participated in a couple of these...

And kudos to the Washington Post's Lavanya Ramanathan for providing most of the Post's scant critical coverage of the city's largest arts event.

How my good friend John Pancake, the Arts Editor of the Washington Post, can justify the fact that his two art critics can ignore the largest homegrown arts event in the city, is beyond me. As critical as I am of the WaPo's visual arts coverage, this apathy towards such a large event is beyond belief for even the Post, allegedly the world's second most influential newspaper.

Somewhere in the apathy is a mix of disdain for almost anything that smells of open, public, hands-free, artist-run, uncurated democratic event. The officers and shock troops of the contemporary salons cannot allow such an event to be a success.

Too bad that it is, even with their antipathy.

You reap what you sow; if you don't get it, you don't get it.

Update: John Pancake, the long time Arts Editor of the Washington Post is on the way out, as he took the recent set of buyout offerings from the WaPo administration.

George Carlin

I’m always relieved when someone is delivering a eulogy and I realize I’m listening to it.
- George Carlin

I'm really gonna miss that funny dude.

Opportunity for DC Artists

Deadline: Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 5:30 pm

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) is purchasing artwork that captures archetypes of Washington DC. Subjects include specific neighborhoods, parks and circles, festivals, gathering places, or cultural events. Less obvious motifs include downtown redevelopment, restaurants, shops and businesses, work places, or Metro stations. Artists should consider a broad range of subject matter as long as the works have an unmistakable subject reflecting life in the District. Artists should also consider submitting images of Washington that depict the changing neighborhoods and the parts of the city that are disappearing. The Committee is very interested in depictions of all wards of the city. The collection serves to honor and embrace life in the District.

This opportunity is open to all artists who reside and have their studio in the District of Columbia.

For more information and to download the Call to Artist, please visit www.dcarts.dc.gov or to request an application in HTML format, email Beth Baldwin or call (202) 724-5613.

New Drawing

And in a huge development to my own artwork, color returns to it!

For years I painted in oils and watercolors and also did drawings... but around 1992-1993 all my artwork began to focus on just black and white drawings.

Not any more; color has returned to my artwork...

"Last Copy of the Constitution"
Charcoal, Conte Crayons and Colored Pencils Drawing by F. Lennox Campello.
Matted and Framed to 24 x 18 inches

Congrats!

To B.G. Muhn, winner of the 2008 Bethesda Painting Awards.

Read the Washington Post review here. The show goes through July 5, 2008.

Scene from Bethesda has the story and images as well. See it here.

PMA Announces Interim CEO

Gerry Lenfest, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Philadelphia Museum of Art, yesterday announced the board’s unanimous vote to appoint Chief Operating Officer Gail Harrity as the Museum’s Interim Chief Executive Officer, and Associate Director of Collections Alice Beamesderfer as Interim Head of Curatorial Affairs.

These appointments, effective immediately, follow the unexpected death on June 1 of Anne d’Harnoncourt, The George D. Widener Director and Chief Executive Officer. A selection committee co-chaired by Trustees Martha Morris and Keith Sachs will be organized in the coming weeks to search for a permanent successor.

Congrats!

To the winners of the 41st annual Art of the State: Pennsylvania 2008 exhibition, showcasing the talent, creativity and diversity of Pennsylvania's established and emerging artists. The exhibition opens to the public on Sunday, June 29, at The State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg.

The exhibit includes 166 works of art which were selected from over 2,400 entries. This represents 160 artists from 28 counties.

The exhibition runs through Sept.21. For more information, visit this website.

Let's help Hizzoner

A few days ago I noted that Tony Gittens, the executive director of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, announced a couple of days ago that he is leaving that post after 11 years.

Mayor Fenty will now appoint a new EA for the DCCAH and we're all hoping that it's not a typical politico nepotista appointment for the $110,000 a year job.

We're all hoping for someone who is qualified for this important job and who also cares deeply about the capital arts presence and its artists.

I have nominated George Koch, but I am curious to learn about other potential nominees out there, so feel free to post some comments with names of those who you think may be candidates.

Go hang your own artwork



"Wallmountables" is DCAC's Annual Open Exhibit - This year it will be from July 18 - August 31, with installation on July 16 3-8pm, July 17 3-8pm, July 18 3-6pm.

They divide the gallery into 2' x 2' squares and you take care of the rest.

Congrats!

To my good bud Jeffry Cudlin, who won First Place in the 13th annual AltWeekly Awards for his art criticism!

Now if Jeffry would only get back to writing a little...

Opportunity for Artists

Click on image for details...

Congrats!

To former Manassas, Virginia artist (now in Brooklyn) artist Allison Smith, who was recently awarded a Foundation for Contemporary Arts grant.

Wanna go to a DC opening?

On June 20, from 6-8PM, Georgetown's Cross MacKenzie Ceramic Arts has an opening for the always fascinating theme of trompe l'oeil work, in this case by various artists.

Also take a look at the really good article in the current issue of American Craft magazine about Rebecca Cross MacKenzie and her DC gallery. Read it here.

Meet the dealers

I don't know who the dealers or curators lined up to do this are, but Baltimore's Creative Alliance, on June 22 is offering an opportunity for one-on-one interviews with curators and art dealers representing for-and-non-profit spaces in the region.

Learn what venues are looking for, get feedback on how your work is seen, and hone your presentation skills. Bring what you need to discuss your work (portfolio, artist statement, resume, etc.). Interviews are 15 min each, limited to 4 per artist, and scheduled on a first-come basis. Plan to wait for/between interviews. 2-6pm. $15, $10 mbrs.

Creative Alliance at The Patterson
3134 Eastern Ave
Baltimore, MD 21224
Email: staff@creativealliance.org
Phone: 410-276-1651
Website: www.creativealliance.org

Make Your Emergence!

In reference to my "Who are your notable emerging artist(s) in your town and area?" (Click here), you can also nominate yourself and put up your own website.

Go here, sign in (it's free) and give us a link to any artist website of your choice, including your own.

There may be more coming out of this, but at least you get another Google digital footprint out of it when collectors seek you out.

Wanna go to a Baltimore Opening?

Wanna go to a Tyson's Corner, VA opening?

Wanna go to a McLean Opening?

Let the drinking begin!

Now available everywhere, most notably at Trader Joe's.

Reviews and comments here. For around six bucks it's already getting rave reviews!

Emerge already!

C'mon! Who are your notable emerging artist(s) in your town and area? I give you an opportunity to put a digital footprint for the website of your favorite emerging artist and you folks are hemming me up...

Go here, sign in (it's free) and give us a link to the website of your favorite emerging artist. Then maybe later we'll do a poll and see who emerges as the top 2-3 emerging artists around the nation to keep an eye on...

There may even be a prize or two coming down the road... trust me.

Congrats!

To Philly area artist Charles Burwell a new 2008 Pew Fellowships in the Arts recipient!

Mr. Burwell will receive a $60,000 Fellowship - an increase of $10,000 from previous years -and the largest such grants in the country from which individual artists can apply.

This year the awards went to artists working in folk and traditional arts, painting and playwriting, and were selected from a pool of 323 applicants.

"We are proud to continue Pew's long-standing commitment to the community of artists in Philadelphia and delighted to support this year's Pew Fellows in recognition of their exemplary contributions to the artistic vitality of our city and region," noted Marian Godfrey, Managing Director, Culture and Civic Initiatives of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Burwell is represented in Philadelphia by the Bridgette Mayer Gallery.

The full list of award winners is here. Other visual artists in the list include Matthew Cox, Anne Seidman and Mauro Zamorra.

Congrats to all!

New Virginia Gallery

Ayr Hill Gallery will hold its Grand Opening Celebration on Friday, June 27, 2008, 5 PM to 8 PM, at 141 Church Street, NW, in Vienna, Virginia. Featured artists Armand Cabrera and Kathryn Ellis will attend the reception.

Canapés, confections, and conviviality will be served. To be included on the guest list, please send your name and mailing address to info@ayrhillgallery.com or call 703-938-3880; additional guests will be accommodated as space permits. Free and open to the public.

On the air next week

Next week I'll be on the Kojo Nnamdi Show discussing the Greater Washington area visual arts and artists and art stories as I usually do several times a year.

Tune in to WAMU 88.5 FM around noon; as soon as I have a final date (looks like Thursday, 26 June), I'll confirm it.

If you have any questions or art issues, you can call Kojo during the show at (800) 433-8850 or you can email him questions to kojo@wamu.org.

ICA drops admission cost

Beginning July 1, 2008, entry to Philly's Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) will be free to the public for the first time in its history. This unprecedented initiative was made possible by a generous gift from Glenn R. Fuhrman, who is an ICA Overseer and a contemporary art collector.

Museum Residency

Deadline: Postmarked by Monday, July 14, 2008

Applications are being accepted for three artist-in-residence positions at the Newark Museum Arts Workshop for the month of January 2009. The residency offers three artists the opportunity to use the Museum’s professional facilities for creating new work. A stipend will be paid to selected artists. This year because the Newark Museum is celebrating the 100th year of its founding, artists are being asked to submit proposals that relate to this milestone event.

How to Apply: First, there is no application form to fill out, references to seek or fees to pay. Please send 10 JPEG images at 300 dpi on a CD, or a video/film clip of five minutes or less of your current work along with resume, artist statement, residency proposal and SASE. Do please include a hardcopy list of your images and information about them and how or in what manner they should be viewed.

Stipend: Each artist receives a stipend of $1200.00. This includes artist acting as juror to select the next round of Newark Museum Resident Artists for 2010. In addition, in-kind material and technical support is supplied to each artist depending on project needs. Send application material to:

Stephen McKenzie
Manager
The Newark Museum
Arts Workshop for Adults
49 Washington Street
Newark, NJ 07102-3176

Email address: smckenzie@newarkmuseum.org

Call for 3D artists

Alexandria's Gallery West has a call for 3D artwork. Jurying will be from the artwork itself— no slides or CDs. Jury selection is Monday, July 7, 2008, between 11am – 6pm. The opening reception for selected works will be on Saturday, July 12, 5 – 8pm.

Download the entry form from their website.

Affordable Art Fair: Final Report

Read it here.

Wanna go to a Germantown, MD opening?

Richard Vosseller's "Failure Is An Option" has an opening reception on June 21, 5:30 - 7:30 at the Black Rock Center for the Arts in Germantown, Maryland.

Emerging Artists

Having just returned from NYC, one of the side effects of the art fair phenomenon is the fact that through them many regional emerging artists are exposed to savvy art audiences in places like New York. Case in point is Norfolk's Sheila Giolitti, and last weekend was her first exposure to New York's art audiences and she sold about a dozen oil paintings!

Who are your notable emerging artist(s) in your town and area?

Go here, sign in (it's free) and give us a link to their website. Then maybe later we'll do a poll and see who emerges as the top 2-3 emerging artists around the nation to keep an eye on...

Richard Edson

Annie Adjchavanich returns to the DC area to present Richard Edson photographs from the series "Beyond the Valley of the Micro Bops."

Preview the show here.

The opening is Thursday, June 19, 8 - 11pm and the exhibition goes through June 29, 2008.

Jackie's Backroom Gallery
8081 Georgia Avenue
Silver Spring, MD

Artomatic to close tomorrow

Washington, DC's Artomatic 2008 comes to a close Sunday, June 15 at 10 pm. If you've already been, go again. There's so much to see and do. I've made the rounds half a few times and each time I discover new art, great music and performances. Make sure you drop a few bucks in the Artomatic donation boxes to help with expenses.

Also, there's a Glass Art Tour of Artomatic, on Sunday, June 15 at 2pm. By popular demand, one more tour on the last day of Artomatic! Please meet in the lobby of Artomatic between 1:45pm-2pm for a guided glass tour of Artomatic. Join Washington Glass School artists Cheryl Derricotte, Sean Hennessey and others as they lead you directly to all the great glass on exhibit this year. You will then ride up together to the 11th floor to begin and walk down to the 4th floor so comfortable shoes are suggested. The tour will depart the lobby at 2pm and concludes by 3:30pm.

Derivative Composition

A while back I was honored to be one of three jurors for VSA's "Derivative Composition" juried exhibition at the Kennedy Center.

The Derivative Composition exhibition at the Kennedy Center will be installed this coming Monday. I’m told that it is one of the most ambitious and interesting exhibitions that VSA has produced to date.

The opening is scheduled for Thursday, June 26, beginning at 5 pm. Several of the artists (which come from all over the country) will be attending. In addition, they will host two exclusive performances:

Mark Wittig, from Oklahoma, will present the performance component of his installation, To Have Straights. The performance will emphasize the potential of the physical act as a learning tool.

The Skin, by artist Emily Eifler, will awaken and walk among guests. The textural, full body costume serves to represent a visual boundary that recalls a different, invisible boundary: disability

Steinhauer on the Affordable Art Fair

Artinfo.com's Jill Steinhauer reports on the Affordable Art Fair here.

The Affordable Art Fair New York is one of the least pretentious places to see high-quality international contemporary art in the city. The annual fair, now in its seventh edition, runs June 12–15 at the Altman Building and adjoining Metropolitan Pavilion, and with general admission priced at only $17, it’s cheaper than a trip to MoMA or the Guggenheim.

An affordable art fair may sound amateurish to some, and the art on view here does range in quality, but the gallerists I spoke with yesterday had almost entirely positive things to say about the event, whose self-proclaimed mission is “to serve every kind of art enthusiast.” “This fair is much better than the Affordable Art Fairs in Australia,” said first-timer Peter Gant of Carlton, Australia–based Peter Gant Fine Art.

Read the whole article here. From the reports that I gathered yesterday, almost all galleries were selling well.

DC News

Tony Gittens, the executive director of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, announced a couple of days ago that he is leaving that post after 11 years. Read the WaPo report here.

Memo to Mayor Fenty: Appoint George Koch to the job.

Silly-Matic

Artomatic's odd developments with respect to "the Collector" are chronicled here by the WaPo's Reliable Source.

Affordable Art Fair New York report

The press preview and collectors's night (on Wednesday night) was packed to the gills and the AAFNYC staff told me that it was the largest turnout they've ever had for an opening.

Loads of press people, including a lot of NYC art bloggers, and a significant number of young people drinking the free booze. In our booth, Sheila Giolitti was selling loads of her paintings on this preview night.

Today was the "real" first day of the fair, and when we got there at noon, there was a line of people waiting to get in. I made some quick sales almost immediately of Cirenaica Moreira photos, and Tim Tate's video reliquiaries (as they did the preview night) continued to attract people like moths to a light. At $8,000, they're at the top price scale for this level of art fairs.

Sheila Giolitti continued to sell well, and the anecdotal reports that I received from the other DC, MD and VA galleries in the fair sounded like they were all doing well.

The press was back today to our booth to discuss Cuban art and the state of art fairs; seems like trying to gather if the fair market at this "battle front" level is also putting on the brakes.

More tomorrow...

Fairing

At the Fair in NYC all week with my new Alida Anderson Art Projects venture... more later.

Videos, Movies, Animation & Art at the Whino

National Harbor's Art Whino & Art Outlet will partner up again for the FLIK Movie Festival & Interactive Exhibit.

For FLIK 2008, Art Outlet has partnered with the Art Whino Gallery to expand upon last year’s success by expanding the call out to all mediums of animation and experimental film. There will be more screenings, a larger venue, a coinciding interactive exhibit, and a licensing of the program to allow for screenings both locally and internationally – thus expanding exposure for the selected filmmakers.

Friday, June 21 from 6 – 8pm is the opening reception from 8pm – 12am. On Saturday the sked is as follows:

9am – 3pm Workshops
3pm – 6pm Interactive Exhibit open to the public
6pm – 8pm Reception
8pm – 12am Screening / Performance

On Sunday: 12pm – 6pm Exhibit open to public

She's So Articulate

At the Arlington Arts Center: Black Women Artists Reclaim the Narrative!

Faith Ringgold, Who's Bad?, acrylic on canvas with pieced fabric border, 79.5" X 92.5", 1988
Work by Maya Freelon Asante, Renee Cox, Stephanie Dinkins, Djakarta, Nekisha Durrett, Torkwase Dyson, Faith Ringgold, Erika Ranee, Nadine Robinson, Renee Stout, Lauren Woods at the Arlington Arts Center in Arlington, VA.

Opening reception: Friday, June 13, 6:00 to 9:00 pm - the exhibition goes through July 19, 2008.